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#83

@geoffparker1988 Welcome to the fold! With your background in psychology, it occurs to me that you’ll have an inside track to having a better understanding of HCI (human computer interaction) and the psychology behind it than most just trying to break into the industry. That’ll be a big advantage for you, and one that you’ll want to leverage to break into this world.

Completely unrelated, but I used to live in Bastrop, and I still miss Austin like crazy at times. I can’t wait to get back down there again soon!

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#84

Where in the world are you?
Bellingham, Washington, USA (Nestled nicely between Seattle and Vancouver, BC, Canada)

What stage of your career are you at?
I’m turning 30 this year, and am looking for a career change into UX. I have Theatre degree, a self-taught background in Graphic Design and print production, and have been working as a paralegal for the last 4 years to pay the bills. I’m currently enrolled in a UX program at The School of Visual Concepts.

What are you current challenges?
My main challenge is finding time (between my full time job and school) to work on meaningful UX projects for my portfolio.

What aspect/s of UX are passionate about?
I was initially drawn to UX for the visual design aspect, which fuels my artistic needs. However, the left side of my brain is absolutely loving user research and information architecture.

Cats or dogs?
Dogs. I have a rottweiler-chow mix. He’s like the most cat-like dog I’ve ever met.

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#85

Where in the world are you?
Louisville, Kentucky USA
What sate of your career are you at?
Just completed my masters & at my first job as a UX Designer
What are your current challenges?
I had hoped to come into an environment where I could learn from experts around me but currently my team has no guiding UX supervision/resource. I am expected to be the expert. Our team is also struggling to get usability testing and research into our users.
What aspect/s of UX are you passionate about?
I really love solving problems and learning about people and how they think/feel about topics/experiences. The idea of creating experiences really resinates with me coming from a performing arts background. Realizing user experience extends outside digital assets and encompasses the entire company.
Cats or Dogs?
LOVE DOGS

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#86

Welcome @JenniferLong – what a cool diverse background you have. How are you finding the course?

Hey @chapman_callierae – welcome. Sounds like a pretty frustrating position to be in. Have you voiced your concerns?

#87

Thanks @HAWK - this forum seems like a great place to get started thinking like a UXer.

I would HIGHLY recommend SVC to anyone in the Seattle area looking for UX courses. The classes can be taken one at a time, or strung together as a UX Certificate program, which is what I’m doing.

I also have a performing arts background! The more I learn about UX the more useful I find my theatre background. Both UX and acting involve an inherent understanding of subtle human interactions. Both require a truly collaborative process to create something that is unique, understandable, enjoyable, and artistic.

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#88

Thanks @HAWK - I have voiced my concerns to my manager and my hiring manager. Unfortunately it is a large company with politics in play. I am searching for other ways to get experience and in the process try and bring along my team. Any suggestions on how to find a mentor or gain experience? I have been reading as much as I can consume. :slight_smile:

@JenniferLong: My undergrad is in arts administration and have spent 11 years working at the Louisville Orchestra in the marketing department, which I just left for my first official UX role. I whole heartily agree with your statement on “truly collaborative process…” I hope to bring my experience into good use in my new role.

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#89

Hi everyone. I’m really excited that I found this community. Looking forward to my UX career. I’m changing my career from sales to UX.

Where in the world are you?
Washington DC.

What stage of your career are you at?
Beginning.

What are you current challenges?
Sign up for classes and how to get a entry level job without a college degree.

What aspect/s of UX are passionate about?
How to make websites and applications easier to use.

Cats or dogs?
Cats.

#90

Hi Everyone!

I want to introduce myself!

-Where in the world are you?

I’m located in San Jose, CA. Some call it the heart of Silicon Valley, others the bottom end of the Bay Area, but for me its been home for as long as I can remember.

  • What stage of your career are you at?

I’m recently employed for a very small start up ( employee # 4) as a Software Engineering Intern. My role is to assist the Senior developers with any projects. But I’m already assigned my own features, which requires me to touch the Front and Back end. To give you a little bit of background. My academic degree is in Biology but I enrolled in a Coding Bootamp for a career change. After having an amazing experience in the camp I got my first interview with the same start up and the CEO took a chance on me. I soon realized that the fast pace of a startup can demand a lot from someone, who is still continuing to learn. Being a Full Stack developer is great, but I notice that I was paying more attention about why we were developing certain features and then wondering if it will leave a meaningful impact on our users…which lead me to research User Experience.

To be honest…I didn’t even know a job out there even existed until I started my coding career! So here I am! I want to make the move to being a UX designer. I feel that my intra-personal skills are being under utilized as a web developer.
I bought the getting started with UX book and finished it today and now I’m introducing myself to the community. I pretty much ate it all up

-What are you current challenges?

My current looking to increase my network in the industry! Looking for a mentor who is willing to impart his/her wisdom on me. So that I can be a great UX designer

-What aspect/s of UX are passionate about?
I really enjoy story telling, talking to people, wireframing and prototyping, and gathering data( Biology major in me)
Cats or dogs?
Woof Woof dogs all the way!

#91

Hey @sayedahamdani and @sdyong88 – welcome on board. Things are a bit quiet around here while we take a break for the summer holidays, but we’ll be back in full swing soon.

#92

Sounds great :grinning:

#93

Where in the world are you?
St. Louis, Missouri

What stage of your career are you at?
Have been making a shift for the last year from print and motion design to UX and recently started a new role as a UX designer.

What are you current challenges?
My biggest challenge has been implementing usability testing remotely, doable but definitely takes some creativity lol.

What aspect/s of UX are passionate about?
Talking to users. I love getting the chance to connect with our users and finding their motivations, influences, and frustrations while using our product(s).

Cats or dogs?
Both!

#94

Fantastic – congratulations. We have lots of members transitioning from other careers so no doubt you’ll have some great advice.

#95

Where in the world are you?
Dallas, Texas, USA
What stage of your career are you at?
I’m a contemporary artist / photographer / educator looking to make a career change to UX from academia. Brand new to UX!
What are you current challenges?
Where and how to get started.
What aspect/s of UX are passionate about?
I can’t say specifically yet, but I have a history in customer service and I deal a lot with human nature in my artwork, so I’m interested in being on the design side of things - making the world a better and more delightful place.
Cats or dogs?
Big dogs, definitely. My anatolian shepherd is the love of my life.

#96

Hey Susi,
Welcome!

Ah yes, that old sticking point! We can help you out.
Have you seen these?:
http://uxmastery.com/how-to-get-started-in-ux-design/
http://uxmastery.com/the-ux-mastery-community-guide-to-getting-started-in-ux/

#97

Hi all,

Answering the questions first…

Where in the world are you? India
What stage of your career are you at? Currently working in an IT firm
What are you current challenges? To take out some Me-Time so as to get into more design projects. I want to make a carrier in Designing.
What aspect/s of UX are passionate about? Interaction designing
Cats or dogs? I’m not really interested in keeping pets…but among these it would be Dog… Cats aren’t bad either :wink: What you like cat or Dog?

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#98

Hello everyone! I am brand new here and wanted to introduce myself. My name is Kal and I recently became interested in UX Design and have been doing research in order to get a good understanding of what UX Design consists of and if it might be a good career choice for me. I love this website as it has so much information and such a nice community! At the moment I work in the product compliance industry and would like to a transition to a career I find more fulfilling and interesting. I have also done some self learning in web design and have some understanding and knowledge of HTML, CSS, and Javascript which seems like it may be useful. I have also been researching the DesignLab UX Academy course and the Bloc.io Designer Track course as those bootcamps seem to be popular. Lastly some other information about myself:

Where in the world are you?
Chicagoland, IL

What stage of your career are you at?
No professional experience in UX Design. I have professional experience in another industry however.

What are you current challenges?
Learning more about UX! :slight_smile:

What aspect/s of UX are passionate about?
I like the idea of designing UI experiences that look great and are intuitive and easy to use for people. In general I also think it would be great to have a career which allows me to help people through my work.

Cats or dogs?
Both!

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#99

Welcome @priyankasinghworld and @KalK – so glad you’re here.

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#100

Hi!
Where in the world are you?
Minnesota.
What stage of your career are you at?
What are you current challenges?
What aspect/s of UX are passionate about?
Cats or dogs?

#101

Hi UX Community!

Where in the world are you?

  • One of the most beautiful cities on earth… Cape Town, South Africa

What stage of your career are you at?

  • The well known, daunting (yet exciting), career change. While a BA in Interior Design and a background in the exhibition industry isn’t typical of this kind of career transition, I’ve found that UX has been ingrained in my every day workings and my thought processes long before I even realised it.

What are you current challenges?

  • Gaining enough knowledge and knowhow to start tackling projects and gaining experience in the field. It’s always scary walking away from what one knows to pursue something totally different. I wouldn’t say I know nothing, but I have a quite a way to go, and it’s not an overnight process.

What aspect/s of UX are passionate about?

  • At this stage, multiple aspects. I do think the wireframing / prototyping / mockups and overall design phases interest me the most, but in the same breath, the in depth research and psychology behind user interactions is just as intriguing to me. One of the things I lack most in my current career is the opportunity to do thorough research, design, redesign and keep changing / improving / tweaking as I go - I never thought I’d see the day where I’d be excited to keep having to relook and improve on my tasks and designs. There is so much more to UX than I ever thought imaginable, and the more I learn about it, the more excited I become!

Cats or dogs?

  • Without a doubt in the world… dogs!
#102

Thank you - these are great resources! I’m just finishing up reading the ebook “Get Started in UX” and am now enrolled in SMU’s UX Design Certificate Program starting next month. I hope the program coupled with directed self-study and community interaction will get me headed in the right direction.

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